BNP leader Nick Griffin to face Bonnie Greer on Question Time

[Peikko 1,575]

The black playwright and author Bonnie Greer is to take on the British National Party leader Nick Griffin on the BBC One programme Question Time next week.

Greer, who was born in America but became a British citizen in 1997, told The Times that she would appear on the panel on October 22. It is understood that the programme is to be recorded at the corporation’s West London headquarters.

The costs of policing the event could run to tens of thousands of pounds. Anti-fascist protesters have said that they have plans to blockade BBC Television Centre, in White City, to prevent Mr Griffin from entering the building.

The local authority, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, has told the corporation that either the Metropolitan Police or the BBC should pick up the bill for security. Corporation sources were adamant that it would not spend the licence fee on policing, saying that it was a matter for the Met.

function slideshowPopUp(url) { pictureGalleryPopupPic(url); return false; } <div class="float-left related-attachements-container"> <h3 class="section-heading">Related Links</h3> <div class="related-attachements-side padding-top-7 padding-bottom-10 padding-right-7"> <ul class="chevron-list chevron-blue"><li> Greer, 60, will be joined on the panel by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, and a Conservative politician whose name has not yet been confirmed.

The BBC has begun discussions with the council over maintaining order. Stephen Greenhalgh, the council leader, said that it was up to the BBC whom it invited to appear on its programmes. He added: “Our principal concern is the safety and security of residents in the borough. If there is likely to be a demonstration we will liaise closely with security services and all relevant authorities.”

Simon Darby, the deputy leader of the BNP, said he had hoped that the location would be kept secret to prevent protests. “All the lefties are going to kick off, aren’t they? They always do,” he said.

Unite Against Fascism told The Times that if thousands of protesters turned up there were plans to blockade the BBC building. A rally is also planned for the night before the event in Central London. Anti-fascists plan to leaflet BBC workers on the day itself, as they arrive at the White City building in the morning, urging them to stop work for the day in protest.

“If we get hundreds, the aim will be to just protest against his presence,” a spokesman, Anindya Bhattacharyya, said. “We are getting a massive response from students — we are expecting a lot of people. What we don’t want is for this to go smoothly and for Griffin to get a pat on the back and take his place in polite society. We will make sure that the heat is on Griffin, as well as on the BBC for inviting him.”

The BBC has already faced criticism over its policy towards the BNP after the party’s success in the European elections. In recent days it has been pilloried for interviewing two prominent party members on Radio 1, and introducing them only by their first names.

“Mark and Joey”, as the BBC described them, are actually Mark Collett, 28, the BNP’s publicity director, and Joseph Barber, 24, who runs the party’s record label, Great White Records. The corporation has received more than a hundred complaints about the interview, in which the pair said that the England footballer Ashley Cole, who was born in East London, was not “ethnically British."

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[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

That sounds explosive at the least.

[Peikko 1,575]

I'll listen although I normally get annoyed by question time - not one of my fav programmes at the best of times.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Dimbleby (if he's still doing it) is a bit of a wet fish, but Blair got a right rollocking by the audience over tuition fees way back.

[Peikko 1,575]

OK, I errored I thought it was the Radio 4 thing, which I could listen to, not the Beeb 1, which I can't. Oh well, we'll see what the media come out with afterwards.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... plans to blockade BBC Television Centre, in White City ...

If he can't peacefully speak in White City, where can he?

[Peikko 1,575]

Good point mighty AJ of the small dong.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

... plans to blockade BBC Television Centre, in White City ...

If he can't peacefully speak in White City, where can he?

If memory serves White City isn't "white"

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Good point mighty AJ of the small dong.

... plans to blockade BBC Television Centre, in White City ...

If he can't peacefully speak in White City, where can he?

If memory serves White City isn't "white"

That's a travesty.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The BBC has already faced criticism over its policy towards the BNP after the party’s success in the European elections.

Would the left prefer that the BBC pretend what is, isn't?

[Peikko 1,575]

I am not quite sure. Certainly the BBC are at a loss how to best handle the BNP at the moment, as seen here:

BBC faces inquiry calls after BNP comment on Ashley Cole on Radio 1

Peter Hain, the Welsh secretary, has condemned the BBC's handling of an interview with two "anonymous" BNP members, claiming it casts serious doubt over "the corporation's grip" on covering the far-right party.

The interview, broadcast on Radio 1's Newsbeat programme, introduced the men as "two young guys who are members of the BNP" but failed to tell listeners that they were prominent party members and one was the BNP's publicity director. The BBC now faces calls for an internal investigation after it received more than 100 complaints.

Writing in the Guardian, Hain says the interview was in clear breach of BBC guidelines and underlined the corporation's "shaky handling" of reporting on the BNP.

The interview, broadcast on 1 October, and the BBC's decision to invite the party's leader, Nick Griffin, on to Question Time next week indicated the BBC was "sadly succumbing" to those who "in Griffin's obnoxious words, 'defend rights for whites with well-directed boots and fists'," he adds.

The shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, called on the BBC to launch an investigation into whether the corporation had breached its own guidelines.

"The point of interviewing the BNP is to make sure that they are held to account for their totally noxious views. It would appear that did not happen here and that is a matter of great concern," he said.

The two men were introduced as "Mark and Joey". But, it has emerged, they are Mark Collett, 28, BNP publicity director, and Joseph Barber, 24, who runs the BNP record label, Great White Records.

Collett became infamous after featuring in a 2002 Channel 4 documentary, Young, Nazi and Proud, in which a hidden camera caught him professing his admiration for Hitler. With Griffin, he was charged with race-hate offences after another documentary, BBC1's The Secret Agent, but both men were acquitted in 2006.

During the two-minute interview, Collett and Barber said that Ashley Cole, the Chelsea and England footballer, whose wife is the pop singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole, was not "ethnically British", and spoke of him "coming to this country", though he is from London.

Hain says: "If the content of the interview was distasteful enough … even more worrying is the revelation that these members, still introduced simply as Joey and Mark on the BBC website, are in fact key members of the BNP's hierarchy.

"One, Mark Collett, is the BNP's director of publicity. Would the BBC allow any other party's spin doctor to appear anonymously?"

He adds that there can be "no justification" for allowing the BNP to appear on Question Time, which is being filmed at a secret location to thwart anti-racist protests and is due to be broadcast on 22 October.

Although Jack Straw, the justice secretary, has agreed to appear alongside Griffin, Hain says: "My argument is not with him, but with the BBC for putting ministers in the impossible position of empty-chairing the Labour party."

The BBC today defended the Newsbeat broadcast, which also interviewed Griffin separately, claiming it was "rigorous", asked "tough questions" and was a "way to shine a light" on BNP views and allow listeners to "make up their own minds".

The corporation added in a statement: "The two young BNP activists were not simply introduced as 'Mark and Joey' but as members of the BNP. No one listening to the interview will have been under any illusion about their political allegiance and to suggest otherwise is plainly nonsense." The BBC had a duty to treat all political parties with impartiality, it added.

Rod McKenzie, the Newsbeat editor, said on his BBC blog that the interviewer had put to Griffin some of the texts received from listeners, "including sentiments as tough as 'you're a disgrace' and 'how do you sleep at night?'" He added: "This may surprise you, but a great many texts received [during and after the broadcast] were broadly supportive of the BNP."

However, critics said this was not at all surprising because the BNP encourages supporters to participate in phone-ins. MP John Whittingdale, chair of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said: "The BNP should have the opportunity to express their views, but equally they should be challenged on their views. Viewers or listeners should be given the full facts and if somebody holds a position in the BNP and has some public role in the party, that should be made clear and they should not be portrayed as 'Fred from around the corner'."

Anindya Bhattachayya, a spokesman for Unite Against Fascism, condemned the interview, saying: "They were not submitted to anything remotely resembling critical scrutiny for the racist views they spout.They didn't even use the word racism.

"The typical justification for handing over platforms to the BNP is that the BNP will either expose itself, or ace reporters will expose the BNP. But what actually happens is we have a pathetically weak interview, pathetically uncritical, and when people complain, the BBC absurdly claims it was a robust interview."

He called for an apology and a BBC investigation into why it granted Collett anonymity, adding: "Not only did the BBC not challenge him on that, they colluded in covering up who he was. They said 'Mark, 28,' when they knew full well who he was. It's like doing an interview with Labour supporters 'Gordon and Harriet'."

Growing protests

The rise of far-right groups in recent months is a growing concern for ministers who have pledged to tackle the issue head-on.

Last month, Peter Hain's cabinet colleague John Denham warned of "parallels" between rightwing groups protesting in Muslim neighbourhoods and Oswald Mosley's incendiary marches through Jewish areas of east London in the 1930s. Ministers have singled out protests by the English Defence League, which held the latest of its marches in Manchester on Saturday.

Police made 48 arrests mainly on suspicion of public order offences after a tense stand-off between the EDL and 2,000 members of Unite Against Fascism. UAF later claimed it had outnumbered EDL members. "They were run out of town," said spokesman Mike Gilligan. "Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre."

Both sides traded insults, with EDL supporters making Nazi salutes. Chief Superintendent Gerry Donnellan, of Greater Manchester police, said: "If people come to Manchester to protest they are legally entitled to. As soon as they step over the line between lawful protest then we will be taking positive action against those individuals. If you are going to come to Manchester and think you can get away with shouting racist, inflammatory remarks, you can expect us to respond."

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I don't think it's merely a problem for the 'left' in the UK either

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

They did well in those elections. This means racism is no longer a fringe in British society. It's gone mainstream and the media ought not pretend otherwise.

In America, racism is still a fringe position. Something on the outside, something to be ridiculed. The Klan isn't about to win any elections here.

But across the pond, the Klan does win elections. Racism is respectable in the UK.

[Peikko 1,575]

Nice try AJ of the huge dong, but no that wasn't how/why they got elected to the European parliament.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Wasn't it that turnout went down, rather than the BNP share of the vote went up?

[Peikko 1,575]

Yes, a lot of anger over the expenses scandal, which still rumbles on with the latest Legg report. I find it odd that they have allowed the retrospective change or rules too. This is not having the neat line drawn under it that everyone in politics was hoping for. Their fault though.